Posts Tagged "movies"

Much of transmedia campaigns rely on the willingness of the audience to participate, which is generally influenced by the level of immersion in the campaign. In alternate reality games (ARGs), the level of immersion is high because if there are no interested players, the game will not be very successful. In transmedia campaigns like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, although audience participation is not necessary for the story, viewers are encouraged to ask the characters questions and interact with them through various social media means in order to add a level of realness and to more fully immerse the viewers. For many, interactivity does not end with the end of an ARG or the end of an Internet show. There can be groups of fans who decide that whatever text they were engaged in has more to offer. This is where Twitter shines. From December 10-15, 2010, the Geek Squad did a live-tweet session of the movie Home Alone. The television show, The West Wing, ended in 2006. There are over 30 Twitter accounts for different characters from the show that tweet and interact with each other. Although the West Wing accounts are a better example of a completely immersive transmedia, the Home Alone accounts have their own strength and are still an excellent example of how levels of immersion can vary in transmedia, and thus influence the success of the campaign. The television show, The West Wing, followed President Josiah (Jed) Bartlet and his staff through his years in the White House. Although there are over 30 Twitter accounts for various characters from various periods on the show, the most prolific Tweeters are Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff (@joshualyman); his wife and former secretary, Donna Moss (@donatella_moss); and President Bartlet (@pres_bartlet). These accounts are run by anonymous people. This is one of the main strengths of The West Wing accounts: they maintain the reality of the characters. The writers of these accounts do not publicize their own names or identities. In an interview with the magazine Entertainment Weekly, “Josh Lyman,” discussed his inspiration for creating the account and commitment to the character of Josh. The account writer told Entertainment Weekly, “I am strict about breaking character and...

Throughout television history, producers have experimented with bringing the big screen to the small screen. These projects have been met with varying degrees of success, from outright failure (both of the Casablanca series) to commercial and critical success (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The transition from movie to television can be difficult to maneuver, with audience expectations, limited budgets, and restrictive plots, but producers continue crafting these episodic adaptations. One of the oldest examples of these series is Casablanca, based on the movie of the same name, which aired from 1955 to 1956. The series was set after the events of the movie, focusing on Rick’s life and the bar after Ilsa leaves. The series used sets from the movie and featured actors who had minor parts in the movie, but gave them bigger roles; Dan Seymour, who played Ferrari’s bodyguard in the movie, played Ferrari on the show and Marcel Dalio, who played a crooked roulette table dealer in the movie, played Captain Renahult. The series only lasted ten episodes, due to low ratings. There are a number of reasons why the audience failed to connect with the show; the major problem, however, was that the main actors and the story viewers fell in love with were replaced with cheap imitations. Casablanca is regarded as one of the classics of American cinema (the American Film Institute named it as the second best American movie in cinematic history), so audiences were unwilling to accept alterations to the story; they felt that the movie should remain untouched. As my mother said when I told her of this series’ creation, “Why would anybody do that?” This clip is from the first episode of the 1955 series Casablanca. It was posted by YouTube user verbusen and is used in accordance with Fair Use Laws. However, producers did not learn from this initial failure, as a second Casablanca series, also titled Casablanca, aired in 1983. It stared David Soul, of Starsky & Hutch fame, as Rick Blane and lasted five episodes. Unlike it’s predecessor, this series was a prequel to the movie. Audiences refused to watch this series for the same reason they refused to watch the 1955 version: both tampered with the integrity of the original movie. This version also faced the problem...